The Derby Probus Club

Visit to Derby Sewage Treatment Works,
 Spondon on June 1st., 2023

  13 people comprising 9 club members, 2 member’s wives and 2 guests met at the Severn-Trent Education Centre on a chilly, overcast morning. We were welcomed by Leanne Tower who was our guide for a tour starting at 09:30 and lasting approx. 2 hours.

  Unfortunately owing to understandable health and safety considerations we were not able to see all stages of treating the sewage that comes into the Treatment works, We saw the Input, Screening, Settlement tanks and Output stages.

  The Input has the capacity of receiving 6,000litres/sec of sewage from approx. 400,000 people in the Alvaston, Spondon, Chellaston and Chaddeson areas. From the Input the sewage goes through various Screening, Separating (Settlement Tanks) and Aeration Treatment stages before cleaned water (called effluent) is pumped back into the Derwent river within 24 hours of being received at the inlet stage. A staff of 15 people runs the whole site.

   From the solids that come from the settlement tanks, Fertilizer and Methane is produced. The fertilizer is used by agriculture and the methane is used to power a generator in a small on-site power station. Power is also produced by the two on-site wind turbines and fed into the grid.